Monday, January 4, 2016

It occurred to me that there are only 52 weeks in the the year and therefore only 52 Mondays, 52 Tuesdays, 52 Wednesdays etc (you get my point). So that would mean that I could harness this power of pattern that the working world (calendar) has put before me to pick one day of the week and decide to work on a skill, or desire I want to make happen.

It seems silly that I have only just realized the power of this. I mean I have always had the same 52 weeks every year right? but this year it dawned on me - lets say I pick every Monday to write for 30 minutes (I mean just 30 minutes, once a week) sounds doable. That means I would get in 50 sessions of writing (I took out 2 weeks because you know - life happens).

THE MATH
So back to the 50 sessions. Lets do the math: 50 session x 30 minutes = 25 hours.

25 hours of doing something consistently is nothing to sneeze at.

I mean after 25 hours you have to have improved at least a little plus anything you are doing consistently is better than just 1 hour or 5 hours etc...

Maybe you want to learn how to cook a particular style of food this year (Indian, Chinese etc)

BEING REALISTIC
Also I realized if I was careful to make realistic time slots (amounts), like just 30 minutes (or even 15 minutes) I was more likely to do it. If I set high expectations of myself like an hour or more I know over time I would loose enthusiasm and it would slowly fall off my calendar. 30 minutes seems doable. I could set a timer sit down and do it. Of course my brain wants me to have big goals like write for 1 hour 3 times per week. but I know in my mind I won't follow through. I want to think that I will, I believe I will - but my track record tells me other wise. JUST ONE THING
I also think, the key to this working is to pickjust one thing (maybe 2 at the most) and be really intentional at it. I know it would be cool to put something down for every day of the week but life as it is, is busy and I already need to be intentional about how I live and what I pick up and what I leave. So for me it will be just 1 thing.

I recently applied this technique of showing up once a week for a group I am running on Facebook and I have been on track with it for 6 weeks running and I feel strong. It is gaining momentum and I find myself thinking about it (periodically) during the rest of the week. So I really think this may work for me this year.Will you pick up just 1 thing this year?
It could be anything like doing exercise, painting, writing, seeing a friend, spending time on you.

PS I would love to know what you would do with your 30 minutes once a week